The Seniors
by LinSetsu
Summary: We're going back to the times when Sirius, James, Remus and Peter were still at Hogwarts, and this is their fifth year. On semi-permanent HIATUS
1. Default Chapter

**Intro & Disclaimer: **

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Ok, I don't own Harry Potter nor did I invent it, that's all what JK Rowling did. This is just a fanfic, so please, don't arrest me. I only place claim on my plotlines, and the characters that I create as I go.

So, here we are, my Fanfiction, that is about Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew when they were in Hogwarts, and this is their fifth year. Not too sure about a distinct plotline, but I'm sure something will come to mind when I write. Hope you enjoy, and please Review for me! Well, of course, only if you like it, and you think it's worthy of reviewing. Thankies a whole bunch! 


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One: **

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"Oi! Prongs! Over here!" A teenage boy with dark brown hair called out of a carriage of a train, his head sticking out of the window, and his hand waving at his side. 

"Coming!" Replied another, the same age, with unruly black hair, dragging a large trunk along with him. He heaved it inside and walked over to the compartment where his three other friends sat, Sirius Black included, the one who had called. He smiled, storing his trunk away, then sat down next to Remus Lupin, and across from Sirius. Next to Sirius sat Peter Pettigrew. 

"So," James Potter said, settling in comfortably in his seat, sliding down slightly, and locking his fingers behind his head. "What's up?" 

"Nothing really." Sirius replied, "Just the usual." And James could distinctly pick up the slight bitterness is his friend's voice. 

"You're brother's starting - " Peter started to ask, but was immediately cut off by a warning glare from James. But Sirius didn't really seem to mind. 

"Hogwarts?" He finished as though already tired of the subject. "Yes he is Wormtail. My parents were overjoyed." 

There was a slight pause, an uncomfortable one at that, before Remus said, "Full moon in two weeks." 

James and Peter grabbed at this new subject of talk immediately, as they thanked Remus silently. He had always been good at bringing up a subject to cover uncomfortable moments. "Me and Padfoot had it practically finished by the end of last year. Wormtail still needs to get rid of those ears." James said. 

"Not to worry." Sirius added, "Two weeks is plenty of time to get it down." 

"I hope it is." Peter murmured. And as the train started to slowly leave Platform 9 ¾ for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the four friends started to talk about all the things they could do that year. 

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, the Marauders, were now starting their fifth year at Hogwarts. Sirius and James were practically the cleverest students in the school, Peter the follower, and Remus who was usually quiet and the well behaved. Remus was a werewolf, transforming in the Shrieking Shacks every full moon. All four of them were Gryffindors, and James played Seeker in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 

"We have our OWLs this year, don't we?" Peter suddenly asked, becoming nervous. "Yeah," Sirius replied, who didn't seem in the least bit uneasy about it. "What, you aren't concerned about them are you?" 

"But it's meant to be a really tough year, the fifth." Peter continued.

"Yeah," Remus said, looking over the fringe of the book he had taken out, "Rumors say that some of them last year passed out from the stress." Sirius and James smirked, not missing the slight tone of glee and tease in their friend's voice. 

Peter looked far worse as he heard this, and the three of them laughed. 

"Don't worry Wormtail, the exams are ages away." James said, after the laughter had gone down slightly. 

"Yes, but the homework!" Peter whined 

"Oh, shut up, Wormtail." Sirius said, "We haven't even started term yet." 

At this, Peter fell silent, though the anxious look didn't quite leave his eyes. Remus went back to his book, James took out his wand and started to turn the Chocolate Frog cards into various items. Sirius took to staring out of the window, as the sun started to lower itself in the west. But he quickly got bored of just gazing, and took out his own wand and started flicking the cards across to James, one at a time at first, but when James got the idea, and returned the cards, it got faster, flashing them quickly, enough to create a paper cut if they hit. 

Quickly the little game grew, as the two started to dodge this way and that, ducking and whizzing them back and forth. Sirius and James started to shuffle around the compartment, smiling and sometimes laughing, or calling out triumphantly if they hit. Peter was by that time very consumed in the game, laughing and cheering them on. They were soon not only using the cards, but turning them into various objects. Remus lifted the book higher to his eyes, moving towards the edge of the compartment to try and avoid the flying items. 

Then a water bottle went tumbling towards the reader, hitting him hard in the chest. Remus grunted, threw down the book beside him, took out his wand and joined the fray. James whacked Sirius around the face with a rolled up parchment, and had to throw himself down onto the ground to avoid being bashed with a thick book that Sirius had conjured to have revenge. Then Remus had the parchment torn apart into many pieced, then made into pinecones to shoot at James who had gotten back up into his seat. 

James waved his wand just in time, and the pinecones bounced away to his left, past Remus. 

The door of the compartment suddenly rolled open, and a startled girl's scream made the four boys swing their heads towards the sound. The pinecones James had just deflected were heading towards a girl with red hair down to the shoulders, and brilliant green eyes, and who had already changed into her robes. All the fired pinecones hit Lily Evans square in the face, knocking her out of consciousness due to the speed and strength the missiles were fired out. She staggered backwards, then fell down onto her back in the corridor. Stunned, the four merely gaped at the unconscious girl, and James noticed a badge with the letter P on it, but didn't really register it at the moment.

"Evans!" He gasped, moving towards the door and peering at her face. 

"Let's get her in." Sirius suggested, and they pulled her inside and closed the door. Remus bent down to check her, and after a few short moments, he got back up. 

"She's ok." He said, then added, "Just knocked out cold."

With a wave of his wand, Sirius cleared the mess away, returning the different items back into Chocolate Frog cards, and stacking them neatly away. Meanwhile Remus and Peter lay her down on the seat, then sat down on the opposite side with Sirius. James went over to Lily's face, and lightly tapped it a number of times. 

"Evans." He said, "Hey, Evans! Wake up!" He shook her once, then went back to the tapping. "Wake up, Evans!" One nasty bruise was starting to form itself around her temple, and James half mindedly noticed that had been the cause of her passing out. Lucky it was hidden behind her red hair. Then Lily slowly came round, and with a groan, she opened her eyes. "Evans!" James called once more, then released an almost silent sigh of relief, and at the same time ruffling his hair. "You alright?" 

Lily sat up, bringing a hand up to her forehead, then turned her gaze to look at Sirius, Remus, Peter, then finally at James. Then something flickered in her eyes, and all four of them knew it was recognition and realization. They all grimaced inwardly, knowing that would come. And it did. 

"You!" She screamed, addressing them all. "What are you doing throwing pinecones around?! It's dangerous! You aren't mean to use magic for these purposes!" Peter looked away, his lips twitching, as though he would soon burst into laughter. Remus's shoulders shook gently with silent laughter, though he tried to keep his face straight. Sirius and James just laughed without even trying to keep it down. 

"SHUT UP!" Lily roared, "It isn't funny!" She rounded on James, glaring at him, "And why did you send those pinecones at me?! It could have been a First year, and they would have been terrified!" 

"Well, it wasn't, so calm down, Evans." James replied, still smiling with amusement. Still glowering, Lily, sighed irritably, as James heaved himself up onto the seat beside her. 

"So why did you come here in the first place, Lily?" Sirius asked, who was also still grinning. 

"I've been made a Prefect." She answered shortly, "And we were asked to patrol the corridors. And since Remus forgot about our meeting, I came to tell him." She still seemed bad tempered. 

James, Peter and Sirius all looked curiously at Remus, who seemed to be slightly surprised, then realization dawned on him. "Oh, right." He said, as he stuck his hand inside his pocket, taking out a badge with a P on it. 

"You never told us you were made one." James said, surprised. 

"I forgot." Said Remus, as if it was a matter of fact statement. 

"Well," Sirius added with a wry grin, "They probably thought, better him than us, Prongs." 

"I must agree." James replied with a mock serious nod, then returning the grin.   

"Well, you aren't meant to go forgetting those sort of things!" Lily said heatedly.

"Oh, alright." Remus replied with a sigh. "What are we meant to do?" 

"Patrol the corridors and make sure no one is doing anything forbidden." 

Sirius coughed, "We weren't doing anything forbidden." 

"It was something close to it!" Lily was starting to get angrier again.      

"Whatever you say, Evans." James said, leaning against he window and looking at Lily while his hand went up to rumple his hair again. Lily seemed to be ignoring this act. 

Then the compartment door slid open again, and another girl stuck her head in, took a look around, and spotted Lily. She had hazel eyes, was slightly short, but thin, also already wearing the Hogwarts robes, and had long blond hair that was tied in a ponytail. 

"There you are!" She said, "Jade came to the compartment and asked where you were. I think she wants to see you." 

"Yeah, tell her I'm on my way, Chandre." Lily responded, and Chandre left the compartment. Lily also stood up, and looked hard at the other four. 

"If I hear anything else out of this compartment," She warned in a low voice, "All four of you will get detention the moment you step foot in the castle. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Crystal clear with a Flobberworm on top." James answered lightly with a grin. Lily looked doubtfully at him, then turning, left with a swish of her robes.

"How can a prefect give a prefect detention?" Sirius asked, turning around to the others after Lily left. 

"I have no idea." Remus replied with a shrug. 

But they weren't going to listen to her. Especially James and Sirius. They were known for the two most rule breaking friends, ending up in detention at least once every two weeks. So they started to talk again, though leaving physical movement out of it for the most part. They were content on now discussion what they would do when the next full moon came, and how they would prepare for it. Evening came quickly, and they changed into their black robes, and finally the train started to slow down, then stopped at the Hogsmeade train station.

There was a great deal of noise as everyone scrambled to get themselves, trunks and pets out onto the platform. It was a fine day, and the summer sun was just sinking behind the mountains. 

"Firs' years this way!" Came the voice of Hagrid. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all knew that voice. Hagrid was the Hogwarts Gamekeeper, and he always led the first years on a boat ride to the castle. But from the second year on, they went on carriages that were pulled by invisible horses, or so everyone thought. 

The Marauders got onto one of the carriages, and it was soon dragged in a bumpy fashion towards the school. Then it halted at the stone steps that led to the great oak doors, and the four walked in with all the other students into the spacious Entrance Hall that buzzed with all the talk. And slowly the crowd made its way towards the Great Hall that was lit with many candles and lined with a the four house tables. The staff all sat at the front of the Hall, with Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster sitting right in the middle wearing midnight blue robes, his silvery beard gleaming gently in the light. 

Sirius and James sat across from Remus and Peter, and talked together about various topics and the new teachers. A few seats down the table, Lily sat with her friends, Chandre included amongst them. 

"Damn." Sirius suddenly said, "Little Snivelly's still here." The other three turned in their seats to look across to the Slytherin table, and indeed, found Severus Snape sitting there alone, and reading a book. 

"Well, at least he'll be there to give us some entertainment when we need it." James suggested.

"What's he reading?" Peter asked. 

"Well, he's doing a good job to make sure that none of his neighbors really see the front page." Remus said. 

"Probably another Dark Arts book." Said James with pure disgust. 

"He wouldn't dare bring it in the Great Hall though." Peter tried to reason. 

At that moment, however, Professor McGonagall marched up to the staff table, with a thin stream of nervous looking first years trailing at her heels. The chatter in the Hall died down, as the fairly young transfiguration professor set down the battered, old looking Sorting Hat onto the three-legged stool. The new students lined up behind the hat, and everyone waited for the song to start up. 

It did, as a small rip in the hat opened, and the Sorting Hat began to sing. 

_When Hogwarts School was first created, _

_And I was young and new, _

_The founders known for different virtues_

_United for all of you._

And so it went on for a few minutes, and the students listened intently. When the song ended, and that hat became still, enthusiastic applause filled the vast room. Then Professor McGonagall came forward with the roll of parchment with all the new names on it. The hall became quiet again, and she began. 

"Andrea, Julie." She called out in a clear voice, and a petrified looking young girl stepped up and lifting the hat up to her head and placing it there, sat down on the stool. The Hat dropped down to cover most of her face, and for a few, dead silent moments, nothing moved. Even the ghosts seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the sorting. 

"_Hufflepuff!_" The Sorting Hat suddenly cried out, and the Hufflepuff table cheered and applauded. Julie dropped the hat back onto the stool, and rushed over to sit at the cheering table, looking much more relieved.

After a few more names were called out, all of the A's in fact, and a few B names also finished, McGonagall called, "Black, Regulus." 

James glanced quickly at Sirius, but his friend seemed to suddenly become bored, and looked as though he was hardly paying attention. But James knew that that was because of Regulus, his little brother. And he also knew that this bored expression was just a mask.

Indeed, Sirius was actually really paying attention now. He was careful not to show it, but a slight crease appeared between his brows. Regulus was shorter than Sirius, as he was much younger, but his nose was slightly longer and sharper, his hair the same dark color, and his chin more pointed and thin. 

This time, the Sorting Hat took its time as Regulus placed it over his head. Then, after nearly half a minute, the hat announced, "_Slytherin!_" The table cheered, at the new student, and Regulus walked briskly over to his new house table. As he went, his gaze locked with Sirius's and the elder of the two could clearly make out the smug look he held in his features. Sirius's eyes narrowed with disgust, but then their little connection was broken, and Sirius turned back to the Sorting. His friends hadn't said anything, but they had all glanced curiously at their friend's brother, then to Sirius himself, before back to the sorting. 

When all the new students had been placed in their houses, McGonagall rolled up her list, took the hat and stool away, then joined the other teachers at the table. Dumbledore had risen out of his seat, and he beamed at all the students with a warm smile on his face. 

"Welcome to all those new members of Hogwarts School." He said in a clear, ringing voice. "And welcome back to all those who were with us last year. I will have a few speeches to make, but that can all wait until after the feast has finished. For now, please, tuck in!" 

And with that, the Headmaster sat back down, and plates, food, goblets, and drinks appeared magically onto the table. The talk started once again, though slightly quieter than it had been before, as everyone started to take what they could and began to eat. 

"Why was your brother put in Slytherin?" Peter asked cautiously. James made to stop him speaking, but he was slightly too late. 

Sirius shrugged, as if he didn't care much about that. "The Blacks have been all over. A lot in Ravenclaw, a few in Hufflepuff, another handful in Gryffindor, and yes, some went into Slytherin. At least I don't have to deal with him being in the same house." 

"True." James said briskly, "Didn't look like a Gryffindor anyways." 

"Well," Remus said slowly, in a mock seriousness, "I don't think out Prongs here 'looks like a Gryffindor'" And before James could say anything, he added, "He looks much more like a Hufflepuff." 

Sirius choked on a piece of meat, and Peter nearly spilled his drink. James quickly glanced at Remus, his mouth half open. Then quicker still, he looked over his shoulder at the Hufflepuff table. He pulled a face as he turned back and said, "Can you image me being hard working, innocent and wearing canary yellow Quidditch robes?!" 

The four broke out into laughter, and then started to talk about lighter subjects, about the teachers and their classes. At long last, the dishes were cleared, and everyone turned expectantly to Dumbledore who had stood up again. 

"Well, now that we all have full stomachs, I will make a few announcements." He began. "First, to the new students that are joining us this year, the Forest in the grounds is a forbidden area, and everyone is to keep a good distance away from the Whooping Willow for obvious reasons. Our caretaker, Filch has asked me to remind you that no magic is allowed in the corridors, along with a list of items that you can review that is pinned up on his office door. Well, that is all. Bed time now!" 

And then all the students seemed to rise as one, and they made their way out of the Great Hall. Sirius stretched his arms, and yawned as they left the table, and the four of them were about to make their way out of the Hall as well, when they heard Remus. 

"Arg!" The three turned to see what was happening, and they saw that Lily had grabbed his hair and pulled him back. 

"You haven't already forgotten that the Prefects are mean to lead the First Years to the common room?" She asked him dangerously. 

"Oh, right, uh, of course not." Remus answered, trying to tug his hair out of Lily's grasp. Then when he had managed that, he turned to his friends, "I'll see you up there." 

The other three nodded, and after James had given his hair one last crumple in front of Lily, he too turned and followed Sirius. They crossed the Entrance Hall with all the other students and climbed the marble staircase, but then turned a few corners, and took some of the shortcuts. They talked quietly as they went, and when they reached the corridor with the Fat Lady's portrait and the door to the Gryffindor common room, they had to wait with the others for a few minutes before the prefects arrived with the first years. 

"All right, let me through." Lily called, pushing past the others to get to the portrait. "The new password's _Kitkat_." The portrait swung open, and everyone scrambled through.    

"What sort of a password is that?" James asked as he got through and looked at the familiar, circular room with the fire and comfortable armchairs and tables. 

"Kitkat." Sirius repeated, trying to get the feel for the word. "Never heard of that before." 

"It's meant to be some sort of Muggle snack." Remus told them. "You can ask Lily for a further, detailed explanation." 

"Nah," Sirius replied, "Not interested. I bet it isn't interesting at all anyways, like most Muggle things." 

"Hey, James!" 

James turned to see the tall, long blonde haired Helton Spinnet, seventh year, and Quidditch team leader make his way past a group of second years and head towards James. 

"Hi, Helton." James greeted with a grin. 

"Hi," Said Helton. "Listen, we need two new Chasers and a Keeper this year. Tryout's on Saturday. I pinned it up." And he pointed it out on the bulletin board that held important rules and the date of the first Hogsmeade trip. "I want everyone there at ten in the morning." 

"Sure, I'll be there." James said with a nod, then followed his friends up to the boys dormitories. When he walked into his dormitory, he found that the rest were already there, and so were their trunks. 

Peter was rummaging around for his pajamas, Remus sat on his bed reading, and Sirius was lying on his bed still in his robes, hands behind his head, and staring up at the ceiling. But he looked to his left as James entered and spoke.   
"Going to sleep so early are we?" He asked with a wry grin and a raised eyebrow. "Not _celebrating_ anything for our return to Hogwarts?" 

Sirius's face broke out into a crooked smile as he swung his feet around and sat up. "Have anything in mind that we can do?" 

Peter looked slightly nervous, but moved to the edge of the bed in anticipation. Remus lowered his book, and cocked an eyebrow. 

"Well, anything really." James replied, sitting down on his own bed. "We can always try that door on the fourth floor we tried at the end of last year. We never got that open before an interruption was made." 

"I heard one of the Ravenclaws say that there was a huge beast in there." Peter said uncomfortably. 

"That makes it all the more tempting." Said Sirius. 

"But it's dangerous if there really is a beast." Squeaked Peter.

"That's the thrill, Wormtail." James answered as he got to his feet. "You don't have to come. I just want to stretch my legs a little since we've had two months without magic. Coming Padfoot?" 

"Who wouldn't?" Sirius replied with a mischievous grin as he stood up as well. 

"Moony?" James asked as he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak.

"No," Remus replied, who has lifted the book up again, "Interesting novel about goblins. But tell me how big the creature was if you ever find out." 

"Sure." Sirius responded "Wormtail?" 

Peter squirmed uneasily, on the verge of wanting to follow, but also being held back by the thought of what would happen if they were caught, or what he would meet once inside the room. Finally he shook his head once, and that was all Sirius and James needed. 

The pair opened the door quietly and slipped out, heading quickly down to the Common Room that was now empty. Sirius pushed open the portrait door, and scanned the corridor. 

"All clear." He said, as he climbed out, followed by James. The portrait closed behind them. 

"Oh, here they go again, the two most troublemaking students." The Fat Lady mused, and James turned around with a cocky smile, but said nothing in return. 

Instead, he threw the cloak over himself and Sirius joined him under it. They were always used to having four people cramped under there, so with only the two of them, they were able to walk quite quickly down a flight of stairs, past a prowling Filch and down the corridor they wanted to go. They went through one large door, turned left, then into another empty room and closed the door behind them. 

There they pulled the cloak off, and walked slowly to the door they couldn't open. 

"_Alohomora_." Sirius tried with his wand, but he already knew the result. The door didn't budge. 

"_Impedimenta_." Said James, pointing his own wand at the door. Nothing happened. 

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Why d'you try that one?"  

James shrugged. "Just wanted to see if it had the same effect as it does on humans." 

The two tried another few charms and spells for the next five minutes, but nothing worked. They had fun though, making the door into ice, filling it with warts, setting it to flames, trying a full body bind (they knew it would never work), and even trying to disarm it. ("How are we meant to disarm a door?" James asked.) 

At last, James flopped down on the ground and thought about everything they had tried. Sirius soon joined him after trying to bring it towards him. 

"We've tried to jinx it, tried to disarm it, tried to magically open it, tried to throw it away, tried to summon it, what else can we do?" Sirius mused with his chin resting on in his palm, and his elbow resting on his knee. 

Then suddenly, voices came through the other two doors, and without saying a word, Sirius and James scrambled under the Invisibility cloak and swiftly walked over to a corner and flattened themselves against a wall. 

Just then, the door opened from where the two had entered themselves, and there walked in Snape and another boy with sleek mouse colored hair and a crooked nose. And James recognized him as another fifth year, and who played Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team.  


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two:**

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"What do you think it guards?" The sleek blond haired boy asked. 

"Anything really, but it has to be something really important to be hidden here." Snape replied. 

"Maybe it's a gift from Slytherin himself." 

Snape snorted, "You do think there's anything in this school, Heckter, that's not been discovered by Dumbledore?" 

_Yes_, James thought, _Heckter Tombe. That was the boy's name._   

"And someone's placed that beast to guard it." Snape continued. 

"Yeah, probably something else then." Heckter answered, and they were now standing in front of the door. "So we just need to get through here, do we?" 

"Yes, but I don't think it's as easy as you think." 

And then Heckter went through a number of hexes and charms, but nothing worked. Sirius and James were beginning to become very impatient, but they knew they couldn't get out and come back another day, since the door they had come in from was shut, and they would hear the door open. They could reveal themselves, and see what happened from then on, or – 

Suddenly, Snape's wand shot out of his hands, and so did Heckter's. James glanced beside him at Sirius who wore a grin, and had his wand out, was mouthing things, and as the two Slytherins went to pick up their wands, they shot away again. James didn't really understand why this would help them get rid of the two pests, but shrugged and thought it was better than just standing around. 

By then, Snape and Heckter had realized what was going on, and they looked suspiciously around the small, empty room. 

"Who's there?" Snape demanded, his eyes darting around, looking towards the two Gryffindors at least three times. 

"Show yourself!" Heckter practically shouted. 

But Sirius and James kept quiet, and James also pulled out his wand, and mouthed something and the two wands floated towards the other two, just out of their reach. Sirius then mouthed something else, and caught Snape in the air as he jumped to get his wand, binding his full body, and he dropped quickly to the ground with a dull thud. 

Then Heckter flew halfway towards the door, and when Snape was released of the full body bind, he was sent twirling around in circles, then blown to the wall near Heckter. Both Slytherins were white with fury, and they glared at the wall opposite from where Sirius and James stood. They had been careful to leave out any spell that would produce physically seen things such as sparks or flashes, and kept to simpler spells that didn't give their position away. 

"It's Potter and Black." Snape hissed. "Only they can do so much!" He was trembling with anger as he stood up. "Where are you?! Don't be cowards and show yourself!" 

"COME OUT!" Heckter added. "Show your - "

"What are you two doing here?" Snapped a familiar female voice, and all four of them turned to see Professor McGonagall standing in the door way, eyes disbelieving and furious at what she saw. 

"Professor," Heckter gasped, then tried to explain, "Potter and Black, they're both here! They've been trying to play with us!" 

"Don't be a fool Tombe!" She cut off anything else he would have wanted to say. "They're nowhere near here! They're up in their dormitories as all the students should be!" 

"But they – "

"Enough!" She barked, "It's the first night of school, and already this! Detention for both of you, and we'll discuss the rest in my office with Professor Sevires! Now hurry up, come on now!" 

Reluctantly the two Slytherins got up, cast another glare around the room, then followed McGonagall grumbling. When the door had shut, and they heard the next door shut, and the three sets of footsteps died down, Sirius and James roared with laughter, though were careful to keep their voices low enough so that others would be able to hear them. But quickly they pulled the cloak back on, cautiously peered through and past each door before setting off, quickly towards the Gryffindor tower. It was lucky they knew many of the shortcuts, and they arrived back at the portrait within two minutes.

"Kitkat." Sirius muttered, with a grimace, still not used to the word, and they climbed through and hurried up the staircase, only then taking off the cloak. Bursting into their dormitory, they received a startled squeak from Peter, but a calm Remus who was still reading the book. 

"Did – " Peter started to ask, but was quickly cut off. 

"Shut up Wormtail. McGonagall should be coming any minute now." James said, hurriedly stuffing the cloak away, as Sirius took out a chessboard and set it hovering between him and James's bed. With a wave of his wand, James also made the figure move in random into places to make it seem as if they had been playing for a while. 

There was a knock of the dormitory door. 

"Coming." James said, moving one of his chess pieces. He then moved to open the door, and came face to face with McGonagall. Behind him he head Peter cheer and Sirius making sounds of grim defeat. 

"James, you cheat!" He muttered as he watched his Queen being wrested down and pulled away by a horse. 

"Professor McGonagall." James said sounding surprised.

"Potter, Black," She said with a crispy voice, her lips thin, "Where have you been for the last thirty minutes?" 

James raised his eyebrows, and glanced back at Sirius who was looking up to them now. "We've been here all the time, Professor." Sirius answered. 

"Sirius wouldn't let James sleep, Professor," Peter piped in, "Since he kept losing to James in chess." 

"You haven't been on the fourth floor?" She pressed. 

"No." James replied, ruffling his hair casually "Was there a problem?" 

"Never you mind. Lupin, have they been here?" 

Remus looked up from his book, "Oh yes, they were Professor," He said, "They were making such a big fuss I could hardly read." 

"Very well." McGonagall said. "I will believe you." 

James however, looked hurt, "Were you not going to believe Sirius and me, if you didn't have the word of others, Professor?" 

And now, a shadow of a grin passed her face, "I think you know the answer to that, and the reason, Potter. But go to sleep now. You can take revenge on him tomorrow afternoon, Black." 

And with that, and a twirl of her robes, (Apparently, she hadn't changed yet) she snapped the door behind her, and they listened to her footsteps die away. Then when they made sure she was gone, Sirius blew out a low whistle and packed the chess board away with a flick of his wand. 

"That was close." He murmured. 

"That was cool." James corrected. 

"So what did you _really_ do?" Remus asked, putting down his book and look over at the pair. 

James put on that hurt expression again, "We were just having an evening stroll." 

Remus quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it threateningly at James. 

James laughed, "Ok, ok." He said, lifting up his hands in defense. "Well, we managed to get there fine…" And he and Sirius took turns to tell their other two friends what had happened as they changed and climbed into their beds. And they talked on still, after the lights had been turned out, about what Snape and Heckter had said, and what they were doing there in the first place. It was well past midnight when all four of then were asleep. 

                                                                        *

The next morning found the Marauders in the Great Hall again, eating breakfast. James's hair was sticking all over the place, and far worse than it usually was. He was biting a piece of toast when teachers came out to hand out their schedules. 

Across from him, James heard Peter groan. He looked down and read through his own paper. Defense against the Dark Arts and Double Transfiguration in the morning, then in the afternoon was Potions and Charms. 

"It's not too bad today." James reasoned, looking up to face a still worried Peter. 

"For him it is." Sirius told James, as he looked through the rest of the week. James merely shrugged, and took another bite of toast. Then there was a great swooshing noise all around them, and all four looked up out of habit as the owls came streaking down. One old, barn owl brought Remus a copy of the Daily Prophet, but other than that, nothing came. 

The Marauders finished off their breakfast, Remus finishing the paper, and picking up their bags, headed off to class. Defense against the Dark Arts was rather boring that morning, when Professor Wellston started to tell them about their OWLs, then he went into explanations about curses and counter curses. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all sat at the back of the classroom. Remus was looking slightly bored, but took notes nonetheless. Peter was trying in vain to scribble down a few notes, but couldn't keep up. James was slumped in his seat, twisting his quill in his hands, though not really seeing it. 

Then Sirius suddenly got an idea. 

_I suppose you're thinking about the unopened door on the fourth floor? _

He scribbled it on the piece of parchment he had before him, then pushed it to his friend.

James looked down as the note was passed to him, but kept his face neutral, if not bored. 

_Yep. Going back there tonight? _

Sirius took the note and read it quickly. 

_Sure. What else can we try to get it open? Stop messing up your hair! _

James again took it.

Sorry. We can look – 

"Black, Potter, are you passing notes in my class?" Wellston suddenly asked. 

James looked from his lap where he had been keeping the note. "Certainly not, Professor." He answered, putting on a slightly surprised tone. Then under the table, he gave his wand a little flick, and the writing disappeared and was replaced with notes. Sirius did likewise, sending his charm through the table another of his parchment. 

"Then what do you have on your lap, Potter?" Wellston asked, still suspicious. He knew that James and Sirius were the most troublemaking pair in the school, and also knew that they were good at acting innocent. 

"My notes, Professor." James replied, "I find it easier to write on my lap." 

Wellston frowned slightly, then raising his wand, muttered, "_Accio_."

Both Sirius and James's rolls of parchment flew towards the desk, and Binns looked through them carefully. Then after a few moments, he looked back up, smiled, and gave them their papers back. 

"Very well. These are two very well written notes. But just to make sure you were listening," He said, "Potter, what are the three unforgivable curses?" 

"The Imperius, and Cruciatus curses," James answered, his voice suddenly quiet, "And the _Avada Kedavra_." Sirius looked sideways at James, who seemed to retreat within himself after speaking the answer. Sirius knew it was a foolish, and very easy question to answer. And above all, he knew James loathed the Dark Arts. 

"Their causes and ways to stop them, please Black?" Wellston continued, nodding after James's answers.

"Mind control, pain, and death." Sirius replied, automatically, still keeping James in sight out of the corner of his eye. "Just have to fight off the Imperius, and there's no way to stop the others unless you try and dodge out of the way." 

"Very good, both of you. Ten points to Gryffindor." Wellston said, "But there's another curse, as bad as the three, but it isn't an Unforgivable." He was now talking to the rest of the class as well. 

James and Sirius took this moment to exchange looks, and James noticed that Remus had been looking at them, turning his head ever so slightly. Then James flashed a forced grin to Remus to tell him he was fine, and scribbled down the last of the statement he had been writing before they had nearly been caught. 

_We can look in the Library.   _

Sirius grinned, understanding perfectly well that when James said 'Library', it was always a midnight hour study in the Forbidden Section. But he nodded his agreement, and James erased that note as well. Meanwhile, Wellston had kept going with his explanations. 

"It is the Paltonium curse." He was saying, and James gave him half an ear. "When used effectively, one can go as far as slicing off a whole limb from someone. And it isn't painless. A defense such as _Protego_ will not help defend you." 

Just then the bell rang, and Wellston spoke quickly now, "Homework, look up when and where the Paltonium curse has been used before, read the first chapter in your book which is about the Unforgivable curses, and write an essay about the four different curses." 

James stuffed his belongings into his bag, which he slung over his shoulder, as did Sirius, Remus and Peter, and they headed out of the classroom, and walked to their next class. Chattering girls and pushing boys filled the corridors, the Marauders a part of them. Though they didn't push past, since they were never eager to go to class, they talked amongst one another. 

Then there was a sudden BANG, and streak of light that missed James by a few inches. He and Sirius spun around, drawing their wands, and spotted Snape trying to scurry away through the crowd. Behind them, from the direction the blast had gone, it sounded as if a Third Year had gotten warts all over her face. A few people shouted things here and there around the two, and they hurried to get out of the way and out of trouble. They could already hear a few Prefects making their way over. 

"Snivellus." Sirius hissed. 

"_Impedimenta!_" James shouted, and the flash caught Snape and hurled him back into the open gap that had been formed. 

"_Expelliarmus!_" Sirius added, whisking the wand that Snape had raised, "_Accio_." And he caught the wand, and held it out mockingly. "Want it? Come and get it, Snivelly." 

By this time, Remus and Peter had stopped walking, and were looking back at the three. Snape was glaring at Sirius and James, who were smiling back at him with mildly interested looks. 

"Give it here, Black." Snape hissed.

"When have we ever done something because you asked?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"_Petrificus To –_ " James began. 

"Stop that NOW!" A female voice roared above everyone else, and James cut his words off that would have produced a full body bind again on Snape. He closed his eyes for a second, before opening them and turning to face Lily. But she wasn't alone. Behind her, came Professor Wellston. 

James sighed, lowering his wand, as he watched Wellston glance around, taking in a glowering Snape, Sirius holding two wands, and James who stood silently. "Black, give Snape his wand back." He finally said, breaking the silence that had followed his presence. The crowd had slowly broken off, and had gone to their different classes, and Wellston waited until everyone except Lily, James, Sirius, Snape, Peter and Remus were left. Then he continued, "What happened?" 

"They attacked me, sir." Snape said quickly, putting away his wand that Sirius had tossed him.

"Yeah, we did," Sirius responded with a roll of his eyes, "But not before you tried to sprout warts all over James." 

"That wasn't me." Snape lied, and James and Sirius both knew he was.

"Oh, of course not." James said, his words dripping with sarcasm. "That hex was conjured out of no where, and it passed within inches from me. That happens everyday." 

"And when we turned around, why were you trying to scuttle away?" Sirius added, "I think you would have wanted to see what happens." 

"Where's the person who got hit?" Wellston asked.

"I sent her to the Hospital Wing with some of her friends." Remus replied in his usual, calm voice. "But I do not deny that that hex was aimed for James." 

"But it doesn't make a difference," Lily suddenly said, jabbing her finger into James's chest, and forcing him to retreat a few steps, "That you and Sirius ganged up on Snape, two to one." 

James allowed himself to be pushed back slightly, lifting his left hand to scratch his hair a bit out of place. But before he could answer, a sharp voice broke their little chat. 

"Oh, it isn't you two again is it, Potter, Black?" Professor McGonagall strode up the corridor towards them, obviously having heard of what had happened, and come here after she had started up the class. 

All seven people turned at her voice. "I will leave them to you then, Professor McGonagall." Wellston said, "For I do believe most of them are in your House." 

McGonagall had a curt nod, and Wellston turned and walked back down the way he had come, back to his office. 

"Well?" McGonagall said, letting it sound slightly like a sharp bark. "You've been at Snape again, have you?" And she set Sirius and James with her piercing gaze. But without letting them answer, or taking her eyes off them, she said, "Evans, Lupin, Pettigrew, please go to class. The students there will tell you what you must do for today's lesson." 

And only when the three footsteps died away after they turned a corner, did McGonagall speak again. "Well?" She demanded again, swapping the gaze from the two Gryffindors to Snape. 

"We had a little _argument_ after Snape tried to hex James." Sirius offered in a casual voice. He was far too used to talking about these things with Professor McGonagall. And so, apparently, was James, since he didn't look at all nervous. He merely stuck his hands into his pockets, his wand already put away. 

McGonagall sighed, and turned first to Snape. "A message will be sent to you, telling you of your two detentions today. For now, return to your class." When Snape had thrown one last glare at James and Sirius, he turned on his heels and strode away quickly. Then McGonagall turned to the other two.  "I'm taking you to Filch right now. I need to get back to class, but he will assign detention for you. Your friends will tell you what your homework will be, and to add to that, you must be able to make an owl disappear before your next transfiguration class." She had started to march them down two flights of stairs, "The class is now having to make a snail disappear, but by all means, that is far too simple for you two." They then turned right into a narrow corridor, then stopped in front of a door that was notices stuck onto it mentioning all the banned items in corridors, and all the rules. She knocked briskly, and entered, the Sirius and James following as if it was walking into a class.

When McGonagall had had a short talk with Filch, she turned and walked back out of the room, with a snap of the door closing behind her. James leaned against a wall, hands still in his pockets, looking around at the different sorts of punishment tools that Filch wasn't even allowed to use. Sirius stood next to him, also leaning against the wall with his fingers laced together, and cushioning his head. 

"So," Filch said with a sneer, rising from his seat behind his desk, "You've been at it again, have you? When Dumbledore just reminded you last night, _no magic in the corridors_." 

"Uhuh." James replied lightly, "What d'you want us to do?" 

Filch glared at James, and muttered, "It's always like this. They do it once; they do it again. They never learn without pain. If only I could get permission to use these." He stroked the nearest tool with evident passion, which seemed to look like something to hand students from the ceiling. "First you will sweep the Owlery, and then you will polish all the portrait frames on the fourth and third floor. And if you do not get that done before class ends, you will miss your lunch. Now get going! I'll be up there to check on you!" 

The last sentence was almost blocked since Sirius shut the door behind him as the two got out. "That's an awfully easy detention." James commented as they made their way up to the Owlery. 

"Yeah, we'll finish way before lunch." Said Sirius. "And our Transfiguration assignment's easy. What's come over the staff this year?" 

Smiling, James just shrugged, as he opened the door of the Owlery, and was greeted with hoots from all the owls present. Then taking our their wands, they both muttered, "_Scourgify_." In an instant, all the droppings and bones of dead rodents disappeared. 

Just then, there were thundering footsteps, and when James and Sirius turned, the door burst open and in charged Filch. His gaze swept the room, and his face filled with color, as he bristled. His eyes narrowed as they locked onto the two innocent, inquiring looking boys. His mouth opened and closed a number of times, but nothing came out. 

"Sorry sir, I didn't exactly catch that." Sirius said, doing his best to keep from bursting out laughing. James beside him bit his lip to stop the smile forming. 

"WITHOUT MAGIC!!" Filch finally exploded, having found his voice at last. "YOU WERE MEANT TO DO THE DETENTION WITHOUT MAGIC!"

"Oh, were we?" James asked, doing his best to look surprised, but it was betrayed by the smile that he couldn't help from appearing. "You never told us that, Mr. Filch." 

Filch swelled as if he was really going to physically explode. "Get going on your next task!" He yelled, "WITHOUT MAGIC!" 

As the two walked out of the Owlery, Sirius put his wand back into his robes, but James gave his own a little flick before stepping out of the room, then putting it back. Filch, who had looked around him, wondering if he could find any flaw in the cleaning so he could make them do it again without magic, finally started to head out after finding nothing. James and Sirius were half way down the stairs when they heard a cry and a loud thud, then a string of curses. The two, however, could not see this since the spiral staircase had taken them out of view. 

"Slippery owl dung." James explained very quietly with a grin. "Put one on the ground, and one on the top of the doorway. He slips over the first, and the second comes down on his head."

Sirius chuckled as they made their way down. "Hope you made it so it wouldn't come off with just a wash." 

James smirked, and Sirius didn't need to be told the answer.  

*                *                  *                     *                    *               *

So, uh, how do you like it so far? As I think you've realized, this is mostly a James and Sirius fic. I'll try and add a bit more Remus in it, but he's quite a complicated character. As for Peter, I just really don't like him, so you may not see too much…    


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three: **

"What did he make you do?" Remus asked as the four boys sat eating lunch in the Great Hall.

"Sweep the Owlery, then polish the portrait frame on the third and fourth floor." James informed, swallowing some mashed potatoes.

"_Without Magic_." Sirius chuckled. "But he forgot to tell us before we went to the Owlery, and by the time he found us, it was too late."

"How did you get all the portrait frames cleaned?" Peter asked curiously, "There's so many."

"Well, Filch was practically breathing down our backs to make sure we didn't use magic." James explained, "But we weren't cleaning together. I said I would do the third floor, and Sirius did the fourth. So he kept running up and down, to check on us."

"And while he was with one, the other polished with a wand." Remus finished for them. The two smiled, and so with did he, but with a sigh as well. "I saw him when I came down here. Could smell Owl dung from feet away, and saw some of his head, but I suppose that was your doing as well?"

"Yup." Said Sirius, "James."

"Oh, and before I forget," Remus added, "Transfiguration homework is to practice the Vanishing Spell, read chapter one in our books, and answer the question at the end of that chapter."

"Right, well, that isn't bad at all, is it Prongsie boy?" Sirius commented, draping an arm around James's shoulder and ruffling his hair for him.

"Not at all, Padikins." James returned, knuckling his friend's head.

Potions class was taught by Professor Sevires who was the Slytherin Head. The Dungeon was cool compared to the sunny weather outside, and many of the students complained about wanting to be out in the sun. Remus, James, Sirius and Peter sat at the back of the classroom again, having to bear being told about the OWLs all over again.

"We will be making Veritaserum today." Sevires said. He was, what one would call a typical Slytherin. But at least he assessed everyone fairly, even though he did sometimes lean in favor of his House students. He wasn't the most liked teacher though, with his short-cropped brown hair, and cold black eyes. He also had a small, brown beard, with a short goatee. From his left ear, a small, golden ring was hung, but other than that, he had no jewelry. "This is a very complex potion, and you will need to follow the directions with care." He continued, though now he turned and tapped the board behind him with his wand, and the instructions and the ingredients started to appear. "Then end result should be a clear substance. You may work in pairs."

The dungeon now buzzed with noises of students talking to one another, and the sounds of cauldrons being prepared and the ingredients cut up. Sirius and James worked together, and Remus and Peter.

"Won't it be fun," Sirius asked, while cutting up some herbs. "If we could try these out on Snivelly up there?"

"Oh yes," James replied, adjusting the fire to the right temperature, "See if the rumors are true that he sleeps with a Pink Bunny Rabbit."

"I heard someone who said he had made the Bunny to sing lullabies to him when he's alone in his dormitory." Remus added, after emptying some finely chopped fungi into his cauldron.

"Well of course." Peter put in, "If he sang, I'm afraid of what will happen to this school."

"Good point, Wormtail." Sirius replied with a mock serious nod.

"Oh, and did you hear one of the talks going round that he bought a light blue pajama with pink flowers on it?" James said, leaning over Sirius who was grinding a many legged, dried up insect.

Remus raised his eyebrows at this, and Peter and Sirius quickly looked up to the front of the class where Snape was working with another Slytherin boy. All four burst out laughing, and Peter actually toppled off his chair.

"Excuse me interrupting this, uh, fun discussion boys," Professor Sevires said, who had approached the back of the classroom. "But in my Potions class, I am kind enough to let you talk, but this is going slightly too far."

"Sorry Professor." Remus apologized, pulling Peter up from the ground. Sirius and James were still trying to control their laughter that was still continuing quietly. Remus himself was still smiling, though he tried his best to take it off his face.

"If I hear anymore outbursts," Sevires warned with a distinct coldness in his voice, "I will go as far as giving detention. I hope I make myself clear, Lupin, Pettigrew." His gaze shifted and he added, "And you two, Black and Potter."

"Yes, Professor." Remus answered again, while the other three merely nodded. Sevires turned around, and glanced around himself where everyone had been staring at the four in the back and the professor. He narrowed his eyes dangerously, and the class, suddenly realizing him, went back to work and the silence that had hung there was now filled with would-be hard work talking. Sevires strode back up to his desk, and watched the whole class, and especially the four in the back. Something flickered in his eyes, something dark, but no one saw it, and after a second, it was gone.

The rest of the lesson went without any other commotion, and at the end of the class, they were given their homework, and they had all given Sevires a sample of their work. James and Sirius had managed to get the right color and texture, but Remus and Peter's had one wisp of purple lining in the middle of the clear liquid. Everyone filed out of the class, and the Marauders headed upstairs for Charms.

Again, for the first 10 to 20 minutes, Flitwick, the tiny wizard talked about the OWLs while balancing on top a stack of books to look over his desk. James had his head in his arms that was on the table; Sirius had his right leg bent, jammed between himself and the table, his foot resting on his seat, while his chin was supported in his palm, his elbow on his knee; Peter has his legs crossed on his chair, and was tracing the patterns of his shoes; Remus had one elbow propped up on the desk, his chin in resting on the lower part of his palm, his fingers on the side of his face. Everyone else in the room had heard about the OWLs so much, that none of them were listening.

"And therefore, your OWL grades are very important." Flitwick was finished. "Today, we will be working with the volume of an animal's voice." He took out a cage full of mice, and pulled one out, then shut the lid. "The word is, _Sonorus_. Now watch." Flitwick cleared his throat, pointed his wand at the mouse's throat, and said, "_Sonorus_." And while the mouse had been squeaking constantly, being held up by the tail, now the volume was magnified, filling the room with its loud noise. And now the small professor had to shout to make himself clear. "The counter spell is, _Quietus!" _As he did that, the squeaking subdued, and Flitwick put it back in the cage with the others. "There now." He continued, "We have enough for you to have a mouse each." And he stepped off the pile of books and started to hand the mice out to everyone. "Remember, it's _Sonorus_, and _Quietus_." He explained, and when everyone had a mouse, he said, "You may start."

And all of a sudden, the class was filled with "_Sonorus!_" and in a few minutes, with mouse squeaks. Peter was having a little trouble, as he tried and tried, but couldn't get it to raise its volume. In the end he poked its stomach, and though the volume didn't rise, it started to squeak faster now. Remus had managed to increase volume, and so had Sirius and James. The latter two had started to further increase volume, seeing who's mouse could screech louder. Soon everyone had their ears covered, and the desks shook from the vibration of the noise.

"Black! Potter! That's loud enough!" Flitwick screamed at the top of his lungs, but even then it was drowned by the sounds of the two mice, and the volume didn't stop increasing. All the while, James and Sirius were grinning, as they continued.

"James! Sirius!" Remus tried, shouting practically in their ears, but they didn't take much notice. Actually, they might have seen, but they didn't hear.

Up at the front of the room, Flitwick's books toppled over, and nearly all the other students had abandoned their mice, and ran to the far end of the classroom. Only Peter, Remus and Flitwick remained with James and Sirius, who tried to shout the counter curse to the two mice, but that didn't effect them much. Poor Flitwick was shaking from the vibration, and he was shouting himself hoarse with threats of first points off, then detention. Peter tried to silence them, but happened to make them even louder, so Remus took his friend's wand away, and Peter was left to just watch in horror.

"_Silencio_!" Flitwick shouted, and for an instance, James's mouse fell silent, but James quickly said the counter curse and the volume rose once again. And to keep the mice squeaking, he and Sirius were inserting a few charms at the two rodents.

Suddenly the door burst open (though the sound wasn't heard at all), and in rushed McGonagall, wide eyed, and taking in the room around her in one glance. The larger amount of the class noticed her enter, but the five others didn't.

"_Accio mice_!" McGonagall shouted, and the two very loud mice flew over to her, and catching them, silenced them in the next second. All five had followed the mice with their eyes, and saw the very white professor. Peter sighed with relief, Remus rubbed his ears that were throbbing, James and Sirius exchanged sheepish glanced before they looked back at McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall!" Flitwick piped, collapsing into one of the deserted chairs behind him. But her gaze was not on the tired looking charms professor, but on two others. Her mouth was very thin, her face white with anger, and her piercing eyes glaring at the two students who were wearing sheepish grin they could not hide, and looking away.

"BLACK! POTTER!" She roared, marching towards the two, shoving Remus and Peter out of the way. Her wand was already put away, but her whole body seemed to tremble with fury. "YOU ARE THE MOST TROUBLEMAKING, DISOBEDIENT, DETENTION SEEKING, FOOLISH STUDENTS I HAVE EVER KNOWN!" She bellowed, slamming her hands on the desk, and breathing heavily.

"Sorry Professor – " James began, but was instantly cut off. She wasn't finished.

"YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN A DETENTION THIS MORNING, AND HERE YOU ARE TRYING TO BLOW EVERYONE'S EARS OFF BY INCREASING THE VOLUME OF A MOUSE FIFTY FOLD AND MORE!"

"WE UNDERSTAND PROFESSOR!" Sirius shouted in the same volume as McGonagall was now shouting to stop her. And before she could open her mouth again and tell at him for talking to her like that, he continued, "What do you want us to do?"

McGonagall was taken aback by such a question, thinking they would have tried to make an excuse as students usually did. Well, then again, James and Sirius weren't usual students.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," She said, her voice controlled now, and her yelling fury brought down into coldness in her voice that was tangible. "And detention for both of you again." And at the slightly surprised look of their faces at just having detention, she added, "Don't take me wrong, it isn't only a one thing detention. It won't be easy, but I will tell you exactly what soon." For a few moments, she still glowered at the two. Everyone else was silent, and Flitwick had silenced the rest of the mice. "Pack your things here, you will come with me. The detention will start now." And with that, she lifted her hands from the desk, and headed towards the door, turned on her heels and waited for the other two to come.

James and Sirius did as they were told, and glanced at Remus who had his eyebrows raised, and a I-tried-to-warn-you sort of face. They grinned towards him, then followed McGonagall out of the door that was nearly slammed shut.

"Oh dear Padfoot and Prongs." Remus sighed to really no one in particular, though Peter was listening. He slumped into his seat, and looked around at the other, cautious students. Flitwick had walked back to his desk, gathered the mice, and gave them to each of them again. "They knew they were in for something like this, but they still do it for the fun of it. I'd be surprised if they aren't expelled before they leave Hogwarts."

Outside in the hallway, McGonagall walked faster and more briskly than she had this morning. They past a few people here and there, and though some of them stopped to see the two of them being escorted by the same professor as in the morning, James and Sirius looked unconcerned. She pushed open the door of her office without breaking pace, and ushered the two in. She closed the door behind them with a click, then moved around her desk. "Have a seat." She said shortly, sitting down herself. James and Sirius removed their bags and sat down.

"All detentions are to be done without magic." She started plainly, "Therefore, please give me your wands. They will remain here, and you will _not try and get them back_." Reluctantly, the two took out their wands and handed them to her, and she put it on the edge of her desk for now. "You will at most times be in two different detention rooms, and the detentions will last until midnight tonight. Dinner will be given to you in between detentions." She paused and waited if either of them had a question. When they said nothing, she continued, "Potter, you will firstly go to the Trophy Room and start to polish all the trophies there are. Filch will be down there to supervise you soon. Black, you are to go down to Professor Sevires's office where he will tell you what you must do. And if you break any more rules in the near future, you will both serve four weeks of detention. I will see you both later."

She made it quite clear that the discussion was over, as she stood up quickly and opened the door to let them out. The two slung their bags over their shoulders again, and headed in the two different directions. But not before exchanging meaningful glance. Never before that.

James entered the Trophy Room, and set his bag down at the doorway. A few moments past while he just stood there, looking at all the gold and silver cups that were displayed all across the room. Then he hard footsteps in the corridor outside, and he turned around to see Filch approaching with a sneer. "Not you again?" But he seemed delightful. " So you got yourself in yet _another_ mess? What did you do, send books into the toilet?"

James regarded the Filch coolly, and replied in an even tone, "Not exactly. Made a little noise, that's all." Then he crinkled his nose, "What did you get on yourself? Smells like an old owl's cage that hasn't been cleaned in a month."

Filch narrowed his eyes, and James knew he had hit him with a good remark. "Now you haven't got your friend nor your wand, I hear?" He said instead. "Well then, I can be assured that you will do everything by hand." A smug smile smeared across his face. "Here. Start cleaning." He tossed James a cloth and some polishing cream. He caught it, and settled down to start.

Meanwhile, Sirius crossed the Entrance Hall, and descended even further down to the Dungeons. His hands were in his pockets, and his right hand was subconsciously fiddling with a small mirror. When he reached Sevires's office, he took that hand out of the pocket and knocked.

"Come in." He heard, and opened the door. The office was filled with jars of insects, both dead and alive, herbs, fungi, and some things Sirius hadn't even seen a picture of in his life. Sevires was looking over some scrolls of parchment, and he hardly looked up as he motioned Sirius to sit. So he took his bag off and deposited it next to him while he sat down, and then waited patiently for the professor to finish his work.

"Well now, Black," Sevires finally said, and Sirius turned his gaze from the strange things in the jars to meet the professor's gaze. "Keeping up the usual standards to getting into detention I see. Professor McGonagall told me about it. Now, what I ask of you this afternoon, is that you mark papers. I had the first and second years this morning, and I didn't dare start off with making potions with the first years. So I had them read and answer questions. The second years, I had them make a very simple potion, then answer the questions I gave them. I want you to help me mark them, and that is the point of this detention."

Sirius sighed almost silently, refrained from making a face, and nodded. With a sneer like smile, Sevires placed before him two stacks of rolled up parchment, and inkbottle, and a quill.

_1) What is the most important thing to do before making a potion?_

_To know its ingredients and read the directions properly. _

_2) What are some safety measures while making potions?_

_Check the cauldron for leeks, make sure the fire is just right, don't put every ingredients in at once, and double check everything you are about to do before doing it._

Sirius groaned inwardly. _This is pathetic!_ He thought, as he put checks or crosses across each paper. _What do first years think about? And professors who give out such logical questions that are obvious to even a child - Oh Merlin's beard, how can this kid get such an easy question wrong! - What in the world? No kid, you don't go sticking fire into a hole in a cauldron hoping it will melt back together. - Well now, here we have a decent kid who knows something. Just one wrong compared to all the others that have six to seven with an ex marking it. Who is this any – _

Sirius stopped in mid thought as he glanced up at the corner of the paper where the names are written. _Regulus Black. _All seriousness returned and he quickly put aside that parchment with the rest of them. _Alright,_ he thought, _whatever I thought back then, I take it back. Every single word of compliment to that git, I take back. – Prongs, you have to be having a better time than this! _

He wasn't. Filch had not stopped muttering rude and unwanted comments about Sirius and his history at Hogwarts, from the first time they had entered the Entrance Hall, to the many times they had come face to face with a furious Filch, and how Filch had caught them on several events in out-of-bound areas, and so on. James could have shouted with joy when the classes finished and students thundered around the whole castle creating so much noise that Filch left James for the first time, to wage his war against them. He didn't realize that other professors saw him and talked quietly to him before all heading upstairs.

Glancing towards the doors to make sure he was gone, James pulled out a small mirror from his pocket, though was careful to look as if he was hunched over a trophy to hide the mirror from others seeing it. "Sirius." He muttered into it. And then he went back to cleaning the trophy. "Sirius." He hissed after a few minutes of silence, moving onto the next trophy.

Sirius felt the mirror in his pocket vibrate ever so gently, and heard a small voice in his head calling to him. He looked up quickly at Sevires, but he seemed to have no intentions of leaving the office. But then, his chance came. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Sevires answered, though keeping his eyes on the parchment before him. The door opened and Professor Binns, the dead professor, floated in.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to see all the staff for a short notice meeting." He said in his usual, low, droning voice. But Sirius thought he heard something else in it as well. Something he didn't always have when teaching his subject, History of Magic. It was something like anxiety.

"Very well." Sevires replied, rising and walking around the desk. "Continue with your detention, Black. I will know if something has happened when I return." And then Sirius heard the door slap shut, kept his eyes on the parchment for another few seconds, then spun his head around to make sure they were gone. He listened carefully, and when he didn't hear any footsteps, he plunged his hands into his pocket and produced the mirror.

"What?" He spoke to the face of James.

"What were you doing?" Demanded James, "I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes!"

"Sorry, Prongs. Sevires was right in front of me, it would have looked strange if I had pulled out the mirror and talked into it." Sirius answered.

"What's your detention anyways?" Asked James.

"Paper marking." Sirius replied, "From first and second years. They're horrible!"

James chuckled. "Where'd Sevires go?"

"Dumbledore's office. A short notice meeting."

"What for?"

"I haven't got a clue. Binns just came in and told him. He wanted to see all the staff so it's got to be important."

James frowned with thought. "I wonder if anything's happened."

"No idea. How's the trophy polishing?"

James pulled a face. "Horrid. Filch keeps retelling his 'glorious' tales about when he's caught us before in the past, what sort of strange detentions we got, and all about that. Git."

"Wish we had the wands back." Sirius mused, tilting back onto the hind legs of his chair, "Perfect opportunity to magic our way through these detentions."

"I suppose McGonagall saw through that." James replied with an unfortunate looking grin.

"Oh, she was mad." Sirius suddenly put up, grinning.

"Yeah, those mice must have made the whole upper school tremble if she heard or felt it."

"Well, Flitwick never told us how loud." Sirius tried to reason with innocence.

James laughed, "That's very true. Anyways, what do you think McGonagall meant by we'll be in different detentions _most_ of the time?"

"It can only mean one thing, Jamesie boy." Sirius replied with a cocky grin, "We'll be in the same detention at least once."

"That's good for – " James started, but was cut off by a sudden scream that rang through the corridors outside of the Trophy Room. It had been a girl, and when James snapped his head to the doorway, saw her run past with a few other girls.

He jumped to his feet, and glanced down once at Sirius's face, "What it is?" He asked, but James could only shake his head slowly.

"I don't know. I'll go have a look though. Talk to you later." And with that, James stuffed the mirror back into his pocket and ran the length of the room within seconds. Once he reached the doorway he looked right and left, couldn't see anyone, so ran down the corridor, towards the stairs that overlooked the Entrance Hall. There he saw professors shouting for calm, and hurrying everyone inside the Great Hall.

James frowned, not really knowing what the problem was. He felt a slight vibration of the mirror, and entered an empty classroom, and shut the door quickly behind himself, blocking out all the noise from below. Then he took out the mirror to see Sirius.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

'I don't know." James repeated. "The professors are all hurrying everyone into the Great Hall, and the corridors here are deserted. I heard some noise upstairs, which means that they're keeping the rest of the students up there." As he spoke, he walked slowly towards the windows that looked down in the grounds just outside the castle. He stopped talking, eyes widening as he looked outside, and he swore under his breath.

"Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Giants, Padfoot." James mumbled, "Three of them outside in the grounds. The professors are all outside now, doing their best to stop them, and Dumbledore's there as – " He froze, his blood running cold at what he had just seen.

A group of young students, most probably first years were running from bush to bush, tree to tree, many a dozen of them of both genders. One glance at the professors confirmed that they hadn't seen this group, as they ran in a tight group towards the castle. But what made this hard is that there were about two dozens of other creatures, of a couple different species, but they all looked carnivorous and dangerous. Yet, it wasn't this that had got his words stuck in his throat. Leading the group was Remus, and guarding the rear was Peter. They both had their wands out, and were managing to keep the creatures at bay. Well, Peter was just sending a few warning sparks at them, and James could tell from this distance that he was scared nearly to death. So that left Remus to do a lot of the work, blasting the creatures away from the terrified first years and he seemed to be holding up a shield around the whole group. If any of the beasts tried to spring at them, Remus would half turn and point his wand at the place where the spring was aimed, the it would he hurled backwards.

But this didn't do anything to relieve James. Remus was becoming tired, his face drawn with concentration. Their pace had dropped, and worse, this was all behind the backs of the professors who were teaming up to stop the three giants.

"- ongs. PRONGS!" Sirius shouted, and James snapped out of his horror and wrenched his gaze away from his two other friends. "What the hell is going on?"

"Get up to the Entrance Hall." Was all James could say, and without waiting for an answer, he buried the mirror in his pocket again, burst out of the door and leaped down the marble staircase three at a time. Without slowing his sprint, he rammed into the doors of the Great Hall, and found it still open.

"James!" He heard Lily shout, but he wasn't listening. He glanced around himself in a second, at the students who seemed confused and a bit agitated. He spun around to face Lily, who had her wand out and was standing near the doors with the other prefects. Quickly he grabbed her wand, and before she could react to that, he snatched another prefect's wand, and ran back out of the room.

"_Colloportus_." He muttered, pointing Lily's wand behind him, and that snapped the huge doors shut, and the angered shouts of the two prefects were cut off. When he looked ahead, he saw that Sirius was already there, looking very concerned at his surroundings. The doors of the castle had been shut, and the corridors and stairs were empty. Even the noise upstairs had faded, which meant that the students had all been moved into rooms.

"Remus and Peter are out there with a bunch of first years who seemed to have been forgotten, or out of reach when the teachers forced everyone inside. Peter can't do anything, he's too scared. Remus can't hold much longer, and their behind a large tree that cuts them out of view from the teacher who have their backs towards them." James explained, hardly stopping to breath. He tossed one wand to Sirius who caught it, a frown creasing his brow. James went to look at the magically locked doors.

"But they can come back in when the professors are finished with the Giants." Sirius said, "And what do you mean by 'Remus can't hold much longer'?"

"Beasts." James replied, raised his wand, and added, "_Alohomora._" They heard a slight click, and one of the doors creaked open very slightly, just enough that they could slip out. And James did a quick mental note that the teachers hadn't bothered to do much of a good job in sealing the castle.

The two burst into a wild sprint across the grounds, unnoticed by the professors, James leading the way. When they got to the place, they found themselves face to face with many unfriendly, unusually bright eyes. Their arrival surprised the creatures, but they soon turned and bounded towards another two preys, and James and Sirius were forced to try and stun these as well as move towards the group.

"Peter, take up the shield!" They heard Remus shout faintly, and they snapped their gazes towards their friend who had been knocked over onto his back…by nothing. He rolled backwards, returned to his feet, and sent streams of spells all around him, though he seemed to be following some instructions.

"He's behind you!" One of the students suddenly screamed, and Remus twirled around, only slightly too late. Sudden blood splashed out of a wound on his shoulder, and Sirius heard Remus stifle of a scream.

"_Stupefy_!" Sirius yelled, pointing his wand at a wild Chimaera, that dropped dead, and James was able to leap over it to help Peter who's face was shiny from his sweat, as he spun and twirled trying to keep the beasts away.

James uttered a string of curses and spells, and one by one, the different beasts fell down, in pain, knocked out, lying stiff with a body bind, having grown smaller, tossed away, thrown at one another, and the hostile wall grew thinner.

"Left, going in front of you, coming from diagonal right!" The student was still yelling, and Sirius looked up from pinning one of the creatures against the tree trunk. Remus swayed, turning in the direction he was told, then staggered back as a new wound opened on his face, just below the eyes, but it didn't look too serious. Then Sirius understood.

"Prongs! It's a Thestral!" He shouted, and James looked up from bashing one of the beasts against another and tossing it into the tree. Without a second glance, he raised Lily's wand and sent large sparks into the sky, and it created a loud bang that would surely attract the attention of the professors.

"Your left!" Sirius heard the students yell again, and sprinted towards Remus. To his horror, his friend had dropped to his knees, holding a bleeding wrist that was bent in an unnatural way, his wand on the ground before him. "Sir!" The students yelled again, and Remus tried to grasp the wand, but he would never make it. The Thestral was spurred by the smell of blood, and it came from Remus alone.

Sirius threw himself in front of Remus, not knowing that James had yelled his name, nor that the other creatures had fled or were still lying around about them. He didn't even realize that Peter and James were running towards him from the far side of the group. He sent a flash of green out before him, but he didn't know if it hit or not. The next moment he screamed as he felt teeth sink into his right arm, and felt the hot breath against it. The wand fell from his hand, as his left tried to grasp the snout of the Thestral, and finding it, tried to push it away, but the lock was tight.

"Sirius!" James yelled in unison with Peter and Remus. They could see the blood drip down his arm and onto the grass. He seemed to be trying to push away at nothing, as the pain overcame him, and he slowly sank to his knees, and the bleeding continued. James raised his wand –

"Stupefy!" Someone shouted, and the flash seemed to have hit the Thestral. They heard a distinct thud from something hitting the ground, and Sirius felt the teeth loosen its grip on his arm as he fell forward onto his side, clutching the open wound as agonizing pain washed over it now that the fangs had been pulled out.

Instantly James was at his side, and Peter had gone to Remus. Dumbledore rushed over, followed closely by McGonagall and Flitwick. With a few more spells and flashes of light, all the remaining creatures that had still been struggling fell limp. James helped Sirius to sit up, and tapped his injured arm once, and most of the pain eased away, but since James wasn't much of a healer, he couldn't stop the bleeding.

"Thanks." Sirius grunted. Behind them, Remus leaned heavily against Peter, the wound from his wrist still bleeding, the wrist clearly fractured, along with his right shoulder, face, his robe was torn across the chest where a wound bled in the design of three claws, and a few other cuts on his legs. The other students were unharmed, except for the fact that they were severely frightened.

James looked up at Dumbledore, who looked down at the scene sternly, his wand still held tightly in his hand. He then bent down next to Sirius, and muttered something and held his wand towards the open wound. Immediately it began to heal, and the bleeding stopped, and within half a minute, it was just a light scar. "Thank you, Professor." Sirius mumbled, though he wasn't sure the headmaster had heard. McGonagall gaped at them and the creatures, not sure what to do.

"Minerva, please take Remus to the Hospital Wing." Dumbledore said quietly, and with a nod she moved forward, helped Remus to his feet and they went towards the castle. "Professor Flitwick, kindly escort these young students into the charms classroom, and make sure they're comfortable until the head of their houses are sent to sort this out." With a twitchy nod, Flitwick did this, gathering the students and leading them away. This left Dumbledore alone with Sirius, James and Peter, his gaze shifting from one face to the other. "I would like the three of you up in my office."


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four: **

****

Dumbledore opened the door to his office, and let the three students file in before shutting the door again. He then moved round his desk, and said, "Please, have a seat." As he himself sat down. Sirius, James and Peter did as they were told, without a word as they had done so all the way from the grounds below. Their wands were back in their pockets, and Sirius had cleaned up the blood of his sleeve, and all that was left were some small rips. He wasn't the most comfortable with the headmaster, but he kept his feelings well covered, as did James. They two of them had been before Dumbledore a number of times in the past, but Peter had never been alone with him. He looked very nervous and slightly twitchy, and he kept casting worried glances at his two other friends. He hardly had the time to look around himself at the different items and the portraits of different headmasters and head mistresses. 

"What I ask from you," Dumbledore began is a quiet voice, his fingertips together, and his elbows of the arms of his chair, "Is an explanation as to what happened." 

"Sirius and I can only tell the story from the middle, Professor." James said in a polite, though calm voice. "We cannot tell you how it started." He glanced to his left where Peter had realized what was coming, and shifted uneasily in his seat. A few moments passed in silence, as Dumbledore let his gaze fall of Peter who wouldn't look up, and stared down at his feet. 

"Peter?" Dumbledore gently encouraged. 

"C-can't R-Remus tell the story when he g-gets out of the Hospital W-Wing?" Peter said, playing his hands and shifted even more. "I –I'm sure it w-won't be long, p-professor." 

"Remus needs to rest for the time being, Peter." Sirius replied, thinking he would feel less twitchy if his friends spoke instead of the headmaster. "You know what happened as well as Remus, so there won't be a difference if you tell it." 

"When you get to an area we're familiar with," James added, "We'll take over from there. You just need to start it." 

Peter stared hopelessly at Sirius and James, then finally raised his eyes to meet Dumbledore's gaze. He inhaled deeply, as if trying to collect his courage. "Alright. W-when c-class ended, Remus and I went o-out into the grounds, and walked for a few minutes, when the professors started to gather the students in alarm. A-and then we saw why, when the ground vibrated and we saw the three giants make their way out of the forest. W-we were about to run back to the castle, when we saw on the edge of the grounds, a group of first years who hadn't seemed to noticed. They were talking in a hushed tone, near the forest, but far away from where the giants were." He seemed to become a bit more at ease as he continued. "Then we saw the beasts lurk out of the forest, and leap towards the students. Remus dashed in to ward them off, and ran back to where I was with the others. He created a group shield charm, though it wasn't very strong. So he had to strengthen it at a certain place if a creature leaped our way. I was also bearing some of the weight, but I think he held most of it. He ran up the slope, with the beasts just following up at first, but then they surrounded us, and it became difficult to move. And then one of the students shouted something about seeing a Thestral, and on his instructions, Remus tried to stun it, but it was difficult. Our pace fell, and then weren't moving at all. The spells those first years knew of were very, very limited, so it was only Remus and me. And then the next thing I knew, was that James and Sirius were there, and Remus had given me the full weight of the shield charm and he was trying his best to get rid of the Thestral." 

Dumbledore nodded, and then looked to the other two. James met his gaze, as did Sirius and James started. "Sirius and I were in our detentions – " Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in inquiry. He had kept silent while Peter had told his part, but he knew that James wouldn't mind. "We made two mice squeak a bit louder than we were meant to." James explained, and this brought Sirius a quick, half grin. "We were taken out of charms class and Professor McGonagall gave us detention…" He went on to explain things, while Sirius joined in at times to tell something James wasn't too clear about, or about things in the dungeons. But they were both careful to keep the mirror out of the discussion. When they had finished, Dumbledore sat still, and the silence fell around them again. 

James and Sirius knew very well that to disregard a teacher's command of staying in the castle was quite some rule breaking, but they had told the headmaster the situation Remus and Peter were in, and that the professors wouldn't have noticed before they were all dead. Finally Dumbledore broke the silence that hung a bit too uneasily around them. All that could be heard were the light snoring of the portraits.

"Where did you get the wands, James, when you and Sirius's were in Professor McGonagall's office?" He asked.

"Oh, I, uh, got it off two prefects that I found in the Great Hall." James answered, leaving out the names. 

"Very well." Dumbledore replied, with a somber face. "I understand." Then he sighed, and rose to walk over to the phoenix that was perched on his stand in the corner. "It has been an uneasy afternoon." And Sirius couldn't help but wonder if he was talking to them, or the Phoenix. "We have some clue as to why this is all happening, but to get three giants and nearly two dozens of beasts into Hogwarts ground, one must need much power and skill." Then he turned around, and walked back to his desk. "I thank you for telling me what happened. And I – "

There was a knock on the door, and when Dumbledore said, "Come in." McGonagall walked inside. James, Sirius and Peter turned around as one, but were slightly disappointed to see that Remus was not with her. 

"Lupin is resting in the Hospital Wing." McGonagall informed, as if she knew what was on their minds, "The wounds were not too bad, and Madame Pomfrey has fixed them up. He just needs to rest." Then she directed her attention to Dumbledore. "We have informed the Ministry about this, and they should be coming soon to examine the grounds. We've left a few professors in the grounds with the downed giants and the students are now all in the Great Hall, except the ones Flitwick took to the charms classroom." 

  
Dumbledore nodded. "Very well." He repeated. "Have you told the students what is happening?" 

"We have told them the basic idea, but not the details. Should we send them to their House common rooms, or shall we keep them in the Great Hall, headmaster?" 

"Keep them where they are, Minerva." Dumbledore replied. "It won't be long until dinner, and then we can explain everything." 

"Are we allowed to go see Remus?" James asked. 

McGonagall looked to Dumbledore, who answered, "Yes, you may, but let him rest, and leave before dinner." 

Sirius raised his eyebrows, and turned to look at McGonagall. "We were meant to be given dinner between our detentions, professor." He reminded, just curious as to see what would happen to them. 

"They will be postponed to a later date." She answered shortly. 

"But this doesn't count as breaking the rule does it, when the lives of a dozen first years and two of our best friends were at stake?" James asked, casually, though he was half dreading the answer. 

"No, it doesn't, Potter," McGonagall answered again, "But you must be reminded not to act so quickly upon rashness. You could have come to us, or gotten out attention instead of sneaking behind our backs to save them yourself." And at this, she gave the two stern looks, that reminded the two that it had only been a couple hours ago that she had been furious with them for increasing their mice volumes too much. Sirius and James nodded their understanding, and within a few minutes, they were walking out of Dumbledore's office, and towards the Hospital Wing. McGonagall had stayed to talk to the headmaster, but soon left as well. 

When the trio entered the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey looked around the door of her office to see who it was, then recognizing them, pointed to a bed with drawn curtains, then disappeared behind the door again. James, Sirius and Peter went over to where she had pointed, noticing that all the other beds were empty. _Well, of course._ James thought, _It's only the first day of school. _And that had quite an impact, knowing that all they had done, and it was still the first day back. 

Sirius tapped the hangings around the bed, "Moony?" He said quietly, before drawing the cloth back, and the three entered. Remus lay peacefully of the bed, his eyes closed, but he hadn't been sleeping. When they entered, he opened his eyes, and smiled, which they returned. The three pulled up some stools, and Remus pushed himself up into a sitting position. A slight throb was still present in his chest where the wound had been worse, but he ignored it. 

"So what happened?" Remus asked. 

"We just went up to Dumbledore's office and told him what happened." James answered. 

"I see. And what about your detentions? I never dreamed that you two would come." Remus added with a grin.

"Well, you know," Sirius replied, trying to sound innocent. "We Marauders are bound by a bond." 

James snorted, "He would never have known. He was down in the dungeons marking papers. I ventured to an empty classroom and looked down at the grounds. Then he kind of borrowed two wands since McGonagall still has ours." 

Remus raised an eyebrow, "_Borrowed_, Prongs?" 

"Ok, fine, it wasn't very polite, but still." He ended lamely. 

"Whom did you borrow these from anyways?" Sirius asked curiously, pulling out the wand he had used.

"To be exact, I borrowed them from a Ravenclaw prefect, Anne Johnson, and a Gryffindor prefect. Must I say more?" 

"No need, dear Prongs." Sirius replied, covering his eyes in mock disgust. 

"Anyways, we have to go." Peter reminded, and the other two nodded. "When will you be able to get out?" 

"Oh, very soon. She just told me to stay here until dinner. It was only a few cuts anyways." Remus answered.

"Good." James said, rising, "Then we'll see you in the Great Hall for dinner." 

"Alright. See you soon." 

And with that, the three left, and Remus settled down again to doze off for the remaining hour before dinner. Meanwhile, Sirius, James and Peter dropped by the Trophy Room and Sevires's office (which were both empty) and picked up James and Sirius's bags, and went back up to the Gryffindor Common Room ("You're meant to be down in the Great Hall." The Fat Lady warned) to drop them off. Then they finally made their way down to where all the other students were gathered. The Head Boy met them when they pushed open the heavy doors. 

"Where were you? All the students were meant to gather down here by the others of the professors." He demanded. 

"We were with the headmaster." James replied, not even stopping to face him. Sirius followed him, but Peter glanced back to see the Head Boy scowling at them. He hurried to catch up with his two other friends. All the long house tables had been moved to the sides of the huge room, and the whole place had been made into one big common room. Squashy, multi colored armchairs and tables were strewn all over the place, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Prefects patrolled the whole area, the Head Boy and Girl could be seen at the doors, and professors came in once in a while to check if everything was alright, and to speak to the two at the doors. 

Barely had Sirius, James and Peter sat down in a corner and settled in, when James got a large, cushion thrown into his face, followed by a hand smacking his head. "Arg! Hey!" He stuttered, taking the cushion away so he could see, while he stood up abruptly. 

"James Potter!" Lily growled, glaring at him. "Give them back." And James noticed that behind Lily, was the other prefect he had taken a wand from. They both seemed rather cross, but Anne seemed to think Lily's reaction quite amusing. 

"What?" James asked innocently, and he felt, more than saw the other two grinning with amusement. His left hand came up automatically to ruffle his hair.  

"Our wands, you arrogant brick head!" Lily snarled, taking a step forward. 

"What about them?" He asked again, trying to keep his face neutral, and biting down on the smile that tried to creep up his face. 

Lily glared at him that had the effect of her sending needles in his direction. Then without warning, she closed her eyes, opened them the next second, smiled sweetly and stepped closer to James that had her almost touching his chest. James tensed slightly, wary as to what might come next. Something did happen. Without so much of a warning, and with such speed, Lily's hand came flying towards his face, ready to slap him hard. But James had been alert, and above that, he had great reflexes. The moment he saw her move, he moved his own left hand up, and stopped the smack half an inch from his face. He raised an eyebrow at her. "You know, girls shouldn't be that violent, Evans." He said lightly. 

"I don't care, just give our wands back, before I have to descend to your level, steal someone else's wand and get it back that way." She said through gritted teeth. 

"You think you can beat me with magic?" James asked, with a mildly amused look. Sirius behind him rolled his eyes, and slouched into his seat. Looking at Anne, he found her staring at him, and when he looked over, she quickly looked somewhere else. 

"Perhaps I could, but that would be after you've had another couple sessions of detention added to the ones you were having before the giants came." She whispered in a dangerously low voice. Finally James smiled.  

"Alright, alright!" He said, laughing quietly, "here." He took Lily's wand out of his pocket, and Sirius tossed the other one over to Anne with a grin, who made eye contact with him for a moment, then blushed and looked away. Lily snatched her wand back and stormed away, while Anne cast one last look at the three, smiled, though not looking at Sirius, and followed Lily into the crowd. 

"Well," James said, "That was something." 

"That was nothing more than entertaining, Prongs." Sirius replied, "If anything, you've made the waiting time a bit longer than it had been this morning." 

"Oh, you're just jealous since you don't have anyone you want to impress, Padfoot," James said, leaning back into his armchair. 

"That's because all the girls practically grovel at our feet. I'm just not interested in girls like that." Sirius answered casually. 

"But what about your own wands?" Peter suddenly asked. 

"We'll get them back from McGonagall when we see her again." James said with a shrug. "You're talking about girls like Anne?" He asked, glancing at Sirius. 

"Yeah. Did you see her? Every time I just looked at her, she turned brighter than a tomato and looked away. I bet they'll do anything I say." Then his face broke into a grin. "It's a charm I have." He added. 

"Oh." James answered, his words dripping with sarcasm. "A charm better than the one that makes all the girls blush and turn away?" 

"Yep. Unlike you, Prongs, it doesn't at least repel girls." 

"Ooh. I think someone's asking for a challenge here." 

"What's the point in challenging someone I know I'll beat?" 

"Prove that!" And within the matter of seconds, the two were wrestling each other on the floor, the chairs around them knocked over and Peter hovering a little distance away, but laughing. Sirius rolled up on top, and made to punch James in the stomach; but James got his own move first, knocking Sirius's legs and making him lose his balance. James rolled over, and pinned his friend's arms on the ground. 

"Aha!" He called with a grin of mock triumph. 

"Yes, 'aha'." Sirius answered, bringing his legs up and beneath James and pushing him away. And then they were at it again. A whole crowd had begun to form, and even though some of the prefects tried to stop them, they wouldn't listen. And it served as entertainment anyways. But Lily was careful to stay away, not wanting to even look at the git's face again. 

"My, my, my." A sudden voice drawled out over the quiet cheers from the crowd. "A Black, and a Potter, caught up in such a Muggle styled fight? A shame to the pure blood that runs in our veins." 

Immediately, James and Sirius came apart, and with cold, dangerous eyes, their gazes fell onto the speaker. She had dark, smooth hair that ran down just past her shoulders; cold eyes gleaming with a smug look in them. A thin, smirk playing at her lips. 

Though Sirius had been glaring at her for a few seconds, he closed his eyes like a shrug, and when he opened them, a slight smirk came into his features, and his eyes were of a cold, humorless smile. He slowly raised himself from the ground, pushing his hands into his pockets. James also turned his glare down, and sighed casually, also pushing himself up to stand next to Sirius. "Bellatrix." Sirius said, "It's a surprise that you're even dealing with us. I thought you'd be off in a corner, reading certain books and planning your future with your slimy friends." 

Bellatrix, even though she was two years older then Sirius, he was about the same height, if not slightly taller. Bellatrix chuckled coldly, "At least doing that is better than messing around with your petty things you call friends." 

"I wouldn't be talking, Bellatrix." Said James, quietly, but with distinct coldness. "I heard you were 'recruiting' new members to your…_friends list_." 

"Your mouth should be shut and sealed, Potter." Bellatrix hissed, turning to look at him, "Your parents, such fools, proud of their young wizard and his idiot friends. Blind to the stupidity you carry." 

"Oh look," Sirius said, "Your backup is coming, to help you win this argument that you're losing in." And indeed, Bellatrix was soon flanked with two others. One had sleek blond hair, carefully smoothed back, his lean face split into a smirk. The other had a long, pale face, with brown hair that was long enough for him to tuck behind his ears. "Malfoy and Dolohov, I do believe?"  

"I could curse until you would beg me to stop, if we were someplace else, Sirius." Bellatrix said quietly, eyes narrowing, "And even now, I could make you dance and sing Christmas carols with Potter here, since you don't seem to have your wands here with you. What happened to them? Lost them in a bathroom somewhere?" 

Everything had become silent over the past few minutes, and the crowd had become a little apprehensive about all this strange talking and mocking. Naturally they knew that the Marauders and Bellatrix's gang never got along, but it was probably the first time that they saw such a thing happen. And no one dared to stop them. 

"Try, Bellatrix." James replied in a dangerously soft voice. Both he and Sirius heard Peter give a frightened squeak behind them, and several people stepped back. The two kept their gaze on the three before them, alert. 

Behind Bellatrix's back, Malfoy and Dolohov pulled out their wands, and white hot blasts of light streaked towards the two. Peter gave a shout and dived behind a chair, even as Bellatrix whipped out her own wand, and muttered, "_Cilania_." A shower of red sparks flew out of the tip of her wand. Sirius and James both ducked under the first two spells, but Bellatrix's curse flew towards Peter's head that happened to be peeking out of the chair he was meant to be hiding behind. James saw this coming, and flung himself to intercept the curse. The red jet of light hit him in the chest, hurling his body backwards. He knocked over a couple chairs and tables, and skidded to a halt quite some distance away. 

"James!" Sirius called, glancing back, barely managing to be missed by a singing hex. Bellatrix raised her wand again and blocked Sirius's way to the crowd to get a wand. Malfoy and Dolohov moved around to encircle Sirius. During which time, the crowd was between the decisions of either helping Sirius, or daring to challenge Bellatrix.

"_Intacta_." They all said as one, and Sirius was forced to literally dive to the side to avoid them from crushing his body. He had barely managed to get up again, when he saw them raise their wands again – 

"_Expelliarmus!_" Someone yelled, then it was quickly followed by, "_Accio wands!_" Sirius scrambled to his feet, and saw Remus coming towards them, breaking through the crowd. He held his own wand, and three others. Off to the side, and saw someone helping James to walk over. 

"The professors are coming back any moment now to start dinner." Remus said in a calm voice. "If you all don't want punishments for what you've done, I'd say to stop this now." 

"Fine." Bellatrix said curtly. She wasn't stupid enough to keep fighting with the teachers around. "Wand." 

Remus tossed each of their wands back, and the three made their way away. The crowd also started to disappear, muttering and going back to talk about what had just happened. The person who was helping James lowered him into a seat, and James thanked him before he too, went away. 

"What was all that about?" Remus asked, sitting down opposite to James. Peter pulled himself out from behind a chair, and sank into one on the left of James, while Sirius sat on his right. 

"Bellatrix and her group." Sirius explained darkly. "There should have been more. All of them are buried in their books about Dark Arts." 

"I wouldn't be surprised if Snivellus is a part of it." James added. 

"And what did you two do to get into that brawl?" Remus asked. 

"Nothing." James and Sirius replied truthfully. But their discussion ended there, since the doors to the Great Hall opened, and the professors came in. In a matter of minutes, everyone was seated down at the house tables, and the Hall was back to what it had always been. But the students were talking and discussing about what had happened, about the trolls and the wild beasts, and then about the fight between Sirius and James and Bellatrix, Malfoy and Dolohov. During the dinner, Sirius and James got their wands back from McGonagall who told them they would receive instructions the next day. Everyone was still talking when they all left and went to their separate common rooms.  

"You aren't going out again, are you?" Peter asked nervously as they arrived into their dormitory, and James had closed the door. 

They thought about this for a while, Sirius and James holding an eye contact for a little while. "No." Sirius said, "Not tonight. Too much has happened, and it's still the first full day of school." 

"We'll have plenty of time during the year." James added. 

"And not enough detention ideas." Remus put in, who was leaning against the wall side of his bed. "If you continue like this, getting two to three detentions per day, they'll run out of detentions to give." 

James and Sirius laughed. "Well, I must say, we got a little too much today." Sirius admitted, "Guess we were a little overjoyed at being back." He gave a wink to James. 

"Yeah." James agreed, grinning, "We'll be more careful. No problems there." 

"And if nothing big happens tomorrow, we might as well go out and practice some things, eh Wormtail?" Sirius said. 

Peter grinned excitedly, "Yes, I hope we do. You'll come with us, won't you, Moony?" 

Remus hesitated a moment, but nodded. The four talked a little more, and then fell asleep. 

******************************** 

At breakfast the next day, Peter received a letter from his parents, and Remus got his usual Daily Prophet. Sirius and James were talking about their classes and rule breaking, when James noticed that Remus's face had grown dark and he was very intent on reading something. Usually, he would just skim through the paper, but today, he wasn't. 

"Anything wrong, Moony?" Sirius asked, noticing his friend's strange behavior as well. 

Remus nodded, and kept his voice very low as he leaned towards the two. Peter was still reading the very long letter. "Voldemort." He explained. Tom Riddle's rise to power had started nearly two years ago, with his followers, and strange deaths in the Muggle world, as well as the wizarding world. "The Ministry of Magic found 14 dead Muggles with 3 wizards, 1 witch." He said, keeping his voice low, "They were found on the outskirts of London, and the Dark Mark hovering over the place of their bodies. There's also an article about the trolls and creatures in Hogwarts. It's not too accusing to Dumbledore, but it explains that Voldemort probably sent them here. That's quite unnerving to know that He's daring to do stuff right under Dumbledore's nose." 

A lot of the witches and wizards had already started to call Voldemort _You-Know-Who_, or _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_. He was feared, and the Ministry couldn't control him. People were dying every day, and witches and wizards were often under the Imperious curse. No one knew who to trust, no one could walk down a road without fearing some danger. But never before now, had Voldemort sent anything to Hogwarts. Things were changing. It was growing darker every day. 

Sirius and James nodded, without speaking, and Remus folded up the newspaper, and they all finished their breakfast without much more talk. The day was quite uneventful, and though articles about Voldemort had come up in the Daily Prophet, most students didn't mention it, and neither did the Marauders. James and Sirius were quite quiet that day, keeping to themselves, fighting the urge to do pranks. At lunch they got a message, telling them that the rest of their detention would take place the following evening. 

*********************

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End file.
